Crimson Lancer
Crimson Lancers are heavily armored military vehicles used by the Crimson Lance to patrol the roads of the Parched Fathoms. Their player-controlled counterpart is known as the Lancer Involvement The Crimson Lance employs their Crimson Lancers against the Vault hunters in The Ridgeway, Crimson Tollway and the Circle of Duty. Strategy Crimson Lancers are slow moving vehicles with heavy firepower in the form of a small forward firing weapon in front and a turret mounted main gun on top. The turret-mounted energy cannon is a "two-stage" weapon - the discharge starts as a glowing blue energy ball, which quickly speeds up similar to a Longbow grenade. Lancers often patrol the roadways near major Lance roadblocks and will engage anything that comes near. Their patrol paths will not cross anything that would block vehicle progress, even if it isn't currently doing so (such as a deactivated roadblock), but they might pursue past these things. Lancers can appear quite suddenly on roadways, and might not be marked on the HUD until they are already firing - or until they have already run someone over. It is not uncommon for three or more Lancers to spawn and start patrolling in rapid succession in the same close area. For solo players, it may be wiser to simply ignore loot on the roadway unless it is very high quality. When fighting against Crimson Lancers, it is highly inadvisable to fight on foot. They will run down the unwary pedestrian in short order if the formidable complement of weaponry doesn't kill him/her first. Attackers forced to fight them on foot are advised to remain in a position unreachable by the Crimson Lancer. This is very difficult on the open road but simple in the Circle of Duty missions in which they patrol in a set counter-clockwise square path, making no attempt to steer toward their targets. It is still important to keep moving or stay behind cover so as to avoid the powerful turret gun. Attacking from long range is an optimal strategy for vehicle-to-vehicle combat against Crimson Lancers. When taking damage from anything beyond very close range, Lancers will often sit still while they fire their turret, but if targets are far enough away they will not actually fire, rendering them helpless. The Lancer's gunner makes no attempt to lead a target. Keeping them to the side while driving around them will make it near impossible for them to hit, unless they get close enough to ram, although limited space on the highway can make this difficult. Strafing can work well to avoid a Lancer's attacks at longer ranges, but careful timing should be employed to avoid stepping right back into the path of a blast. Notes *Lancers are weak against corrosive and explosive damage. *When enemy Lancers are encountered, they will often remain non-hostile if driven past and neither fired upon nor bumped. *Lancers are crewed by two Crimson Lance Infantry. There is a small chance that either or both of them are Badass versions of that type of soldier. If the vehicle is destroyed while it is moving, the corpses of the crew are visibly flung from the wreckage. *The Lancer is most likely to drop combat combat rifles, submachine guns, and repeater pistols than other item types. These items are mostly of white or green rarity and are dropped not by the Lancer itself but by its crew. *It is possible to flip a Lancer over by ramming it. If the Lancer remains upside-down at the end of its roll, its crew of two Infantry will get out and fight on foot. The abandoned Lancer will remain and can still be shot and destroyed. *The wreckage of a destroyed Lancer will remain as a solid object for a short time before completely disintegrating. Trivia *Crimson Lancers are seen in the original release of Borderlands, in the garages of the Crimson Fastness, but they are not operational in this part of the game. *The sound of the Lancer's main gun is the same as that of the Eridian Cannon. See also